VIACOM TO STAY OUT OF SPORTS BUSINESS

While Viacom Chair Sumner Redstone told the company's annual
meeting that his goals are to "expand our franchises to every
format," that apparently does not include sports business,
according to Wayne Waller of ELECTRONIC MEDIA. With the sale of
Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and the Rangers, Viacom
President & CEO Frank Biondi said the company had "no interest"
in getting back into the sports business. Viacom is focusing on
"cross-divisional projects" involving its Simon & Schuster, MTV
and Nickelodeon brands, as well as continuing in the attempted
sale of its cable systems to TCI (Wayne Walley, ELECTRONIC MEDIA,
5/29).